Flange oiler



Feb. 19, 1935.

J. P. RUTH FLANGE OILER Filed Oct. 31, 1953 39 BlL F g n in Ad III 57 2/ 12' 7 Q 9 2V 3 9 6 67 Z? If I, n m: A Ill. 2

Patented Feb. 19, .1935

FLANGE 01min 7 Joseph P. Ruth, Denver, 6010;, assignorf to The Ruth Company; Colorado '2 Application. October 31,

6 Claims;

This invention relates to improvements in flange oilers of. the type employed withlocomotives; and railroad cars ofdifierent types. 4

It is well understood; that when a locomotive enters a curve inthe track, the: centrifugal force operates to force. the flanges of the wheels that areclocated adjacent the outer rail of the curve against the: ball of. the rail, and? if these flanges are not properly lubricated; they will wear'very fast and. sometimes" the frictional. resistance will be sufli'cientl'y great to cause the flange to raise the wheel sufliciently to make the engine jump the track. The jumping. of the track an extreme case. which; does not occur except in exceptional circumstances; but the wear of the flanges is: a fact that must be considered at all times, 1

I amv aware that many different mechanical expedients have beenresorted tofor the purpose of lubricating the flanges of locomotive'drive wheels,. but the greatmajority: of these are so constructed thatvthelubrication isa' continuous process and therefore a largeamount of lubricant is wastedas it is not necessary to lubricate the flanges when the-train istraveling over a straight track. c v p c a 1 i It is the objectof this invention to-produce a lubricating" device that shall be operative only when" the locomotive enters the curved'part of the track and whiclrshalhcontinue-the lubrication fora suflicient length ortime to assure that the flanges are properly; lubricated during the whole time that the curve isbeing' traversedi Another object of this invention is to produce a device that shall automatically lubricate the flanges on the outside of the: curve; because it is obvious that the flanges which do notv engage the rails donot require lubrication andztherefore if both sides are lubricated atall times, there is 40 a waste of fifty per cent of the lubricant employed. r V r i-The'above'andother objects which may appear as this description proceeds are attained by means of a construction and an arrangement of parts that will now-be described in detail and-for this purpose, reference will be had to. the accompanying drawing in'which the preferred embodirnent of the invention; has been illustrated; and in which: Fig. 1 isa. top plan;view,,partly in: section-and partly broken away, showing the frontpart' of drive wheels and a partjof pilot wheels attached to av locomotive frame;

Fig. 2 isa view looking in the: direction of arrows; 2,2;, in Fig.7 1; and. shows: a, front; elevation Denver, Colo, a corporation of' 1933, Serial no; 696,042

(Cl.184-3-) l of the-parts illustrated inFig; 2, portions ofrthe housing and; frame: being: broken away to better disclose-the construction: I i

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view, partly'in sec- I tion, showing the relation; of theseveral parts 5 that form the combination which constitutesthis invention; 7 I

Fig. 4 is a side view to a smallsca-le of a locomotive and illustrates one type of vehicle to which this invention can be-applied;iand 1O Fig. 5- is a section through. an accumulator or pressure chamber which: can; be: substituted in the combination for the; air chamber shown in Fig.3. o

In the drawing reference numeral 6 indicates members of the vehicle frame and these have been shown inpart only and are illustrative of the entire frame employed; The frame is supported on a plurality; of axles 7, to. the ends of which drive. wheel 8 are. connected. The drive wheels shown in Fig.. 1 and indicated by reference numeral 8 arethe'ones nearest the pilot wheels 9, and where the locomotive is so constructed that it can travel-with equalfacility in'either direction, there are two'pair of drive wheels corresponding to thoseindicated: by numeral 8. The front end of the frame hasbeen; designated by reference numeral 10 in Fig. 2 and: extendingdownwardly from the outer side of the frame are brackets 11 and. 12. These brackets have cooperating channels 1'3 that form. guides for-the boxing 14. Pilot, wheels 9 are secured to the ends ofan axle I5 that passes through a bearing housing 16 in whichv it is mounted by meansof roller bearings of the fTimken type. The bearing housing is provided at each end with a cylindrical recess, the outer walls ofwhichhave been designated by reference, numerals 1'7; Extending inwardly from the parts 17- are lugs; 18 that are perforated for the reception of pivot pins19;' Secured to the pivot pins 19' are links 20, there beinga pair of links for each lug.. Springs 21 have their ends secured bymeans of pivots 22 to the lower ends of the links 20 and. the distance between the pivots 22 is shorter than the=distance'between the pivots 19'soas to produceqa force that automatically tends tomaintain the axle housing 16 in central position. The weight of that portion of the frame which is supported by the pilot wheels rests on the springs at the central point and is transmitted to the springsby the parts. designated by reference numeral 23. Since the 1 axle housing 1.6 floats in the casting 14; and. has n the weight suspended from the. lugs 1'8'by links 20, it. is; evident that when force is applied to either of the flanges 25 of the pilot wheels, the pilot wheel assembly will be moved transversely of the frame, the extent of this transverse movement depending on the curvature of the track or on the value of the force applied to the flanges.

It is evident that when a locomotive constructed as indicated in the drawing travels along a perfectly straight track, the tendency-is for the locomotive. to so; position itself that very little force is exerted on the flanges and if the locomotive moves from one side to the other, it is brought back to neutral position without any severe strains on the flanges. When a locomotive enters a curve, the pilot wheelwill be the first to engage the inner surface of the outer Ijailof the curve and will be moved transversely of the frame to an extent, depending upon the radius of curvature employed and-the distance from the axis of the pilot wheel to the axis of the first pair of drivers. As soon as the locomotive enters on a curve,--'the outer drive wheel near the front end will have its flange forced against the ball of the outer rail and it is then necessary to apply a lubricantto' this flange so as to reduce the'friction between it and the rail. Y

'Forthe purpose of lubricating the flange of the front driver on the outside of the curve, the mechanism which will now be described has been provided P Secured to'the lugs 18 or to any other part that moves with the housing 16 is a bracket 26 that is provided with a threaded opening through whichthe bolt 27 extends. Alock'nut' 28 is connected with the bolt for the purpose of holding it in adjusted position. Secured to parts that are stationary with respect to the frame are pumps which have been indicated in their entirety by reference numerals 29. 'Each pump is fastened to a bracket 30 that projects'from some part of the frame and is provided with a cylinder 31in which is mounted a piston 32. Aspring 33 acts on the piston to move it towards'the right in Fig. 3 and a piston rod 34 is attached to the piston and extends through one end of the cylinder and terminates in a head 35. The outer end of the piston rod may be enclosed in a rubber bellows 36 that protects the parts against the entry of dust and dirt. When no force is applied to the head 35, the piston'remains substantially in the position shown in Fig. .3,'but if the piston rod and piston are moved towards the left, the contents of the piston chamber will be forced outwardly through the discharge port and into the conduit 37 which is provided with a check valve 38 that prevents the lubricant from returning to the pump but which permits it to travel outwardly towards the end of'the conduit. Conduit 37 has connected with it an air chamber 39 like those usually employed in connection with hydraulic rains and force pumps. Extending from the air chamber is a flexible tubing 40 which is connected with a nozzle portion 41 that is held in a fixed position relative'to the flange of the drive wheel by abracket 42. The storage tank for the lubricant has beendesignated byreference numeral 43 and this is connected tothe intake portion 44 of the pump by means of a conduit 45' and a'check'valve 4.6 is. interposed'between the pump-and the storage tank to prevent the lubricant from being forced back into this tank when the pump operates. 'It willbe seen from Fig. 3 that a space 47 .is provided between the head of the bolt 27 and the head 35 on'the piston rodand therefore the pilot wheels may have a limited transverse movement without effecting the operation of the pump. This limited movement is designed to take care of the slight transverse movement that will normally occur when the locomotive travels along a straight track and where the curvature is very small. The space 47 can, of course, be adjusted to any value desired by merely changing the position of the, bolt 27. In Fig. 5 a slightly different form of compressionchamber has'been shown than the one illustrated in Fig. 3 and designated by reference numeral 39. The compression chamber or air chamber 39 depends upon the trapped air to produce the required pressure, whereas in the embodiment shown in Fig. 5, a cylinder 48 is provided in which is mounted a piston 49 that is normally held in its lowermost position by means of a helical spring 50 whose upper end' abuts the inner side of the cap 51. The two pressure chambers illustrated are considered to be equivalent for the purposes under consideration-and whenever referenceis made to an air chamber or pressure chamber, it is intended to be broad enough to cover bothof these or any other. mechanical equivalent.

Let us now assume that thelubricating device above described and illustrated in. the drawing hasbeen applied to a locomotive. When a locomotive is travelling along a straight. track, the parts are in the position shown'in Fig. 2, from which it will be seen that the bolts 27.do not come into contact with the heads 35 and therefore the pilot wheels may move transversely. to a limited extent without operating the. pump. As soon asthe locomotive enters on a curvev the pilot wheel on the outside will be forced inwardly and the bolt 27 will engage the head 35 and move the pump piston towards the bottom of the cylinder, thereby forcing lubricant from thepiston chamber through the pipe 37. Since this motioni is very abrupt, the pump will transfer a large quantity of lubricant in a very short time and since the opening in the nozzle is much too small to take care of this amount of lubricant, it will be forced into the air chamber 39 and compress the air thereinQThe. checkvalve 38 functions to prevent the lubricant from returning to the pump. If the compression chamber illustrated inFig. 5. is used, the lubricant will force-the piston upwardly, therey. compressing the springiandtherefore after the pump has returned to normal position,- lubricant will continue to be forced out-of the nozzle by the pressure exerted on it by the compressed air or by the piston 49. By properly proportioning the capacity of the pump and the capacity of the compression chambers, one single stroke of the pump will be sulficient to maintain 'a stream of lubricant against the flange 25 for any length of time desired, and this length is usuallycomputed in such a way that it will take care of the average length of curve, and perhaps a little more, because it is not necessary to lubricate the flange for the entire time it is in contact with the rail, and there'- fore by havingthe time just right for the average length, it will be sufficient in a practical way for any curve;

' As sconas the bolt 27 returns the spring 33 will movev the piston to the positionshown in Fig. 3, whereupon lubricant will be transferred from the storage tank'43 to the piston chamber and the pump will be primed'an'd ready to discharge a quantity of lubricant whenever the piston is at a'tiine, and .since'the tracks may curve in either direction, two pumps and two nozzles have been provided and only one of these function for each curve.

Particular attention is called to the fact that with this lubricating device no steam is employed and no compressed air except the air that is contained in the compression chamber 39.

Attention is also directed to the feature of construction described above whereby a single and almost instantaneous operation of the pump will set up forces that will produce a continuous spray of lubricant for a suflicient time to traverse the ordinary length of curve.

Although this invention has been described in connection with locomotives, it can be employed on street cars or passenger coaches and in fact in connection with any'vehicle operated on railroad tracks;

Having described the invention what is claim as new is: V 1 I 1. In a locomotive, in combination, a frame, a plurality of pair of drive wheels attached to the frame, a pair of pilot wheels attached to the front end of the frame, the pilot wheels being attached to an axle and mounted for limited transverse movement with respect to the frame, and means operated by the transverse movement of the pilot wheel assemblyrelative to the frame for applying a lubricant to the flange of a drive wheel.

2. In a locomotive, in combination, a frame, a plurality of pair of drive wheels'forming. supports for the frames, a pair of pilotwheels attached to the front end of the frame, the pilot wheels being attached to an axle and mounted for limited transverse movement with respect to the frame, a storage tank for a lubricant, a pump having an intake and an outlet port, a conduit extending from the storage tank to the intake,

port of the pump, a conduit extending from the outlet port of the pump to a point adjacent a drive wheel flange, and means operated by the transverse movement of the pilot wheel assembly relative to the frame for operating the pump and transferring lubricant to the flange of a drive wheel. I 7

- 3. In a locomotive, in combination, a frame, a plurality of pair of drive wheels forming supports for the frame, a pair of pilot wheels attached to the front end of the frame, the pilot wheels being attached to an axle and'mounted for limited transverse movement with respect to the frame, a storage tank for a lubricant, a pump having anintake port in communication with the tank and an outlet port in communication with a conduit extending to a point adjacent a drive wheel flange, an air compression chamber having its lower end in communication with the last named conduit, and means operated by the transverse movement of the pilot wheel assembly relative to the frame for operating the pump and transferring lubricant to the flange of a drive wheel.

4. Ina locomotive having a frame supported on a plurality of pairs of drive wheel assemblies, and having its front end provided with a pair of pilot wheels secured to opposite ends of an axle, means for attaching the pilot wheel assembly to the frame in such a way that it can move transversely of the frame to a limited extent when theloco-' motive enters a curve, a storage container for a lubricant, a pump having an intake and an outlet port, a pipe connecting the intake port with the storage container, at discharge pipe extending from the outlet port to a point near the flange of a driver, the discharge end of the pipe having a nozzle providedwith a restricted opening, an

expansible pressure chamber in communication with the discharge pipe, andmeans for operating the pump for forcing the lubricant into the Idischarge pipe and pressure chamber when the pilot wheel assembly moves transversely of the frame beyond a predetermined limit. 7

5. In a railroad vehicle having flanged wheels for cooperating with the rails of a track, in combination, a frame, a plurality of flanged drive wheels forming a support for the frame, a pair of pilot wheels attached to the front end of the frame and mounted for limited transverse movement with respect to the frame, means comprising a pumplfor applying a lubricant to theflange of a drive wheel when the pilot wheels move transversely of the frame beyond a predetermined limit, and means for continuing the application of lubricant for a short time after the pump has ceased to function r 6. In a railroad vehicle having flanged wheels 1 for cooperating with the rails of a track, incombination, a frame, a plurality of flanged drive wheels forming a support for the frame, a pair of pilot wheels attached to the front end of the frame and mounted for limited transverse moveated by the transverse movement of the pilot wheels for operating the pump and forcing liquid into the pressure chamber whereby a single stroke of the pump will produce astream of lubricant from the nozzle which will continue some time after the pump has stopped.

JOSEPH P. RUTH. 

